So many instrument in the Astrolab, so many parameters to play with (in Analog Lab with V Collection licence), but I’m a little frustrated by the lack of real-time control on the Astrolab itself.
I’m thinking of adding a MIDI controller to add knobs (such as a Midi Fighter Twister), and edit the sounds by assigning some parameters to CC value, so as to be able to play live with more than the “only 4” macros knobs …
Did someone try this solution ?
Any feedback/recommendations ?
Thks
In addition to the 4 Macros and 4 FX knobs, AstroLab supports “9 virtual faders”, as defined in Analog Lab Pro. (in Analog Lab Settings / MIDI, change the MIDI controller to "Generic 9 knobs + 9 faders)
External MIDI/USB faders/knobs should match the default CC mapping of AstroLab:
- Fader 1: 73
- Fader 2: 75
- Fader 3: 79
- Fader 4: 72
- Fader 5: 80
- Fader 6: 81
- Fader 7: 82
- Fader 8: 83
- Fader 9: 85
Yes, indeed I’ve seen the MIDI chart with all CC value, it’s quite interesting.
I’ve also tested the assignement of a synth parameter to a virtual fader. Unfortunately the effects parameters (chorus rate, for ex.) can’t be assigned to a fader, maybe not a big problem, we have to admit we can’t do everything 
. 9 more controllers are already a good point. Maybe a future implementation in the app Astrolab Connect to have these virtual faders on a tablet ? 
I’ve seen that it’s possible to add some parameters to the CC list (in MIDI tab) but I didn’t managed yet to test it properly, probably because I don’t have a MIDI controller yet.
It would be interesting to have feedback in this topic if someone already tested the use of a “knobs bank”, such as Midi Fighter Twister, Intech Studio modules (knobs or faders), Faderfox EC4 …
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OK, so, it’s a bit confusing, I admit.
At the moment, I’m using the 9 faders from another Arturia controller.
I’ve been looking at the Intech Studio modules, and at the Crumar D9U (9 drawbars, but "might require some skills with Arduino ") but haven’t got one yet.
Yes, that’s quite flexible with the V-Collection license. Like the Macros, fader assignments can be saved on a per-preset basis, so you can really customize the controls you need individually for each preset you want to use live.
The Arturia Sound Design team has made default choices for the faders that make the most sense for each instrument; for instance on analog synths like Prophet V, OP-Xa V or Jup-8V, the faders control the 2 envelopes, on a B3V or Vox V organ, they control drawbars (in drawbar/reversed mode), on Piano V or Wurli V they control physical modeling parameters, …
Correct.
You can use a fader to control the effects that are built-in inside the instruments (requires the license for the instrument), not the Analog Lab effects.
However, you can assign the real-time “performance” Controls (Modwheel, Aftertouch, Expression) in “Keyb. Settings” to the Analog Lab effects parameters. So, for instance, you could use Expression (CC#11) to control Chorus rate, etc, …
That would be nice. Not sure if/when that could be implemented, though.
The custom MIDI Configs is a feature for Analog Lab, but it doesn’t apply to AstroLab.
AstroLab’s MIDI mapping config cannot be edited, and more CCs cannot be added (at least, not for now).
Yes, I managed to do this by attaching via usb my Korg Nanokontrol studio, mapped as many parameters as I wanted via Arturia software, and it works…ideally you would want a smaller controller to fit in that blank area on the astrolab as the nanokontrol is just a little too big, but it does work…
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How did you both do this? I’m going to have access to an AstroLab and want to use either my NanoKontrol or my Keylab (essential 49 and MK3 61) knobs/faders to control my custom sounds with it. I’m guessing the Keylab goes MIDI out to MIDI in on Astro and the Nano is connected via the USB A port on the Astro?
I own V Collection X so would it simply be a matter of connecting the Keylab and loading my custom patches into the AstroLab, or would I need to re-learn them in the settings on each instrument before they go to the AstroLab? (I don’t currently use the NanoKontrol with my KeyLabs but it might be a less cumbersome live option, even if I’d only have eight drawbar sliders for organ.)
I’ve been using my Keylab live for a while with MainStage and I’d like to take the laptop out of the mix. But I do a lot of B3 and Vox drawbar changing and also have effects arrayed over various knobs in organ, Wurlitzer and Rhodes patches plus various synth parameters assigned and I don’t want to lose those controls.
Ideally at some point there will be a rack or desktop version of the AstroLab and I’ll just control it with my MK3 61. But until then my bandmate has offered use of his newly acquired AstroLab so I can experiment.
I actually connect the KeyLab’s USB-C to the AstroLab’s USB-A port (which also provides enough power for the KeyLab via USB), and the AstroLab’s USB-C to the computer when connecting to Analog Lab, but you could also use MIDI if you wanted to keep the KeyLab’s USB-C to connect to your computer.
AstroLab only “talks” to Analog Lab, not to the individual instruments, so you have to access your custom presets through Analog Lab in order to transfer them into the AstroLab (your user libraries from individual instruments should automatically be added to Analog Lab).
While most V-Collection X patches can be loaded in AstroLab (there are a few exceptions, notably Mellotron V and CP70V, and some internal effects), it is generally better to updates your custom presets in Analog Lab to use Analog Lab effects (FX1, FX2, Delay, Reverb) instead of the instrument’s internal effects, so they can be controlled via the dedicated FX knobs on AstroLab. But all the custom patch parameters should be directly compatible.
Note that AstroLab is using a default MIDI configuration, therefore if you have created custom MIDI Config profiles, those will not be used by AstroLab. But your customized Macros and Faders assignments in Analog Lab should all work.
Also, there might be some MIDI settings tweaking needed if you are using Multis and want to use Part1 and Part2 on different channels (for instance play Part1 from the AstroLab’s keyboard and Part 2 from the KeyLab’s keyboard).
Note that with Multis, the functions of the KeyLab faders on AstroLab will be following the status of the Part1 and Part2 buttons. I.e. If Part1 button is lit, the faders will control Part1, If Part2 button is lit, the faders will control Part2, and if neither are lit, the fadesr will control the “Master” parameters.
By the way, make sure that the AstroLab has been updated to the latest 1.3.5 firmware.
Thanks Sean_W.
So I’m now creating Analog Lab versions of the instruments I use as plugins in MainStage, which is easy except for one question (which I should maybe post on the Analog Lab board).
When I use B3 V2 as a plugin, I use the mod wheel to change Leslie speed. I can’t figure out how to assign that in Analog Lab. I see the mod wheel control, but when I select “assign,” it looks like the only things I can assign it to control are the effects.
I’m able to put Leslie speed on a macro, which is OK, but the mod wheel is so much better for that. Or even the sustain pedal, though there appears to be no way to map that to Leslie speed either.
Am I missing a step here?
If a B3V2 preset is set to control its internal Leslie with the mod wheel, it should work the same way in Analog Lab / AstroLab without reassigning the mod wheel (the default Part1 assignment should still work).
As I mentioned, when tweaking your B3V2 preset for AstroLab in Analog Lab, you could also remove the internal Leslie from the B3V2 preset, and use the Rotary Speaker effect in Analog Lab instead. In that case, you could use the mod wheel Assign option to control the slow/fast switch of the Anlog Lab Rotary Speaker effect.
When using Analog Lab’s Rotary Speaker effect, you can also assign one of the Aux pedals of AstroLab as a slow/fast footswtich in the AstroLab’s Settings/Pedals menu.
(note that there’s currently a glitch, and the Aux pedals assignment is not saved in AstroLab, so it needs to be reassigned after each power-cycle. This should be fixed in an upcoming update).
Thanks for the help! I’ll go back and check my original B3 setup and check the mod wheel.
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Thanks again Sean_W. I was able to reassign the mod wheel using your suggestion to turn off the internal Leslie on B3V2 and assigning the mod wheel to control an inserted rotary speaker effect.
But my mod wheel assignment is definitely being lost when I access my B3V2 presets in AL.
There’s also something weird happening where some of my custom settings for B3V2 on my Keylab controllers (Essential 49 and Mk3 61) are lost on the original instruments after I open them in AL and the knobs appear to retain their AL assignments. (Knob 1, which I assigned to master volume, now runs the drawbar cycle of the Brightness macro, for example.) And the knob settings I had for perc and vibrato/chorus on/off lost their assignments.
But that’s probably a post better suited for the Analog Lab forum.
I’m also going to try switching the MIDI config in AL to “generic 9 knobs and faders” and try adding mod wheel control there.
Hmmm… that’s odd. I’ll try different ways to reproduce that behavior.
Did you build your user B3V2 presets from scratch and create the modwheel to leslie assignment?
I think that if you start from a factory B3V2 preset in Analog Lab that already has the modwheel assigned to Leslie, it retains that feature. Maybe it’s something that only the sound design team can lock in?
That’s expected. As I mentioned, AstroLab uses a fixed MIDI Config that cannot be edited in the Analog Lab MIDI tab. Knobs 1-4 are always assigned Macros 1-4.
But you can edit the Macros for each preset using the full B3V2 (you can open it from Analog Lab), so, while Knob 1 will still control Macro 1 (defaults to Brightness, which is mapped to a mix of drawbars in B3V), you can edit Macro 1 to be Master Volume (or any combination of parameters); you can even rename the Macros.
Again, even if you edit a MIDI config in Anaog Lab, it will not affect AstroLab.
The only assignments that are carried over are the ones you make in Analog Lab’s “Keyb. Settings” (CONTROLS ASSIGN pane). (and the custom Macros, as I stated above)
I think the mod wheel issue may have been computer related. For live performance I have everything on an old MacBook Air (from 2016 running Monterey OS), so that’s what I was using to move my V Collection patches into Analog Lab.
Today I used my studio Mac Mini M2 and have no problem whatsoever. (And I restarted the MacBook several times and the mod wheel issue persisted.)
Exported the AL patches, texted them to my bandmate and they loaded fine into the AstroLab.
Sorry to have caused trouble over this. But your help was much appreciated and I now have a pretty thorough understanding of AL setups vs the ones I create on the instruments themselves. I think one of the reasons I’m being offered use of his Astro is my bandmate fears my old laptop will betray us sometime onstage. 
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Can the additional controller be connected to the second USB port? Thanks
Go USB from your controller into the USB A port on the AstroLab.
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Yes, the USB-A port will also power the additional controller.